Taking out a loan to pay off debt is counter-intuitive, right? Especially when taking on a new loan requires hefty fees, rolled into your total balance, or a long repayment period. The InCharge Debt Consolidation Alternative, or debt management plan, is a program that gives you all of the benefits of debt consolidation without having to take out a new loan. With the debt management program, all of your payments are consolidated into one monthly payment that you pay to InCharge. InCharge then pays each of your creditors. InCharge helps you secure lower interest rates on many of the credit cards you do have (with exceptions), meaning that more of your monthly payment will go to pay off the balance, and less to interest. This will help you pay off your debt faster. The InCharge debt management plan is designed to help you get out of debt in 3-5 years, paying less than you would if you continued on your own, or even with traditional debt consolidation with higher interest rates.
Isolating your financial needs on different credit-card accounts will help you get the best possible terms on every transaction that you make. For example, you could get the best cash-back credit card for everyday expenses, the best travel rewards card for airfare and hotel reservations, and the best balance-transfer card for reducing the cost of your existing debt.

To have a good credit score, you need to have positive information reported into your credit report on a monthly basis. The easiest way to do that is with a credit card. Just try to keep your utilization low (although there is no magic number, VantageScore released data showing that people with excellent credit scores tend to have utilization below 10%). And make sure you pay your statement balance in full and on time every month. If you repeat this, over time your score will improve.

I know this post is nearly three years old but I was desperately trying to figure out how to raise my credit score a little faster than usual. I would just like to say that everything he posted I tried and it worked for me. I have raised my score 50 points in just one month! I still have a long way to go, but now that I know what to do, I see it only going up from here.

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As we discussed earlier, a major mistake that many people make when trying to repair credit fast is canceling matured credit lines, thinking it will help with fast credit repair. This is extremely counterproductive, and it can decrease your credit score. Look at the five factors one more time: how much does credit history mean? Consider that before you are quick to closing any aged credit line.
Are you the type of credit-holder who likes to open multiple credit lines at the same time, like store credit cards during the holiday season? This type of financial behavior will impact the fourth factor used to calculate your credit score: new credit lines. With this category, it’s not so much about opening many new credit lines, it’s about how many new credit lines you are opening. In other words, you do NOT want to open 3 to 4 new credit cards at the same time – this will be counter productive to your credit score.
Aside from all things finances, lenders and agencies will also consider your living history. While this is not typically disclosed, it’s a facet that must be taken into consideration. Are you the type of individual who moves from location to location? Have you lived in the same home for over 10-15 years? Chances are, if you are categorized in the latter, lenders will be more interested in helping you. Keep in mind, lenders are taking a deeper looking into individual characteristics and traits. An individual that continues to move may be inconsistent or risky. If you are quick to move from location to location, are you quick to spend all the credit lent to you?

If you're hopelessly drowning in debt, know that you can't negotiate any lower interest rates with your credit card companies or creditors, or if the math works out, a debt consolidation loan may be a good decision for you. Similarly, if you're in serious trouble with high interest rates, high monthly payments (that you're having trouble with already), and too many bills, a debt consolidation loan might help. Combined with a debt repayment plan or credit counseling, it can be used to pay off all of your debt at a fraction of their original cost. If it may be a good time to strike, pay it all off, and walk away debt-free. Photo by erules123.

Once you have your credit reports, read through them completely. If you have a long credit history, your credit reports might be several pages long. Try not to get overwhelmed by all the information you're reading. It's a lot to digest, especially if you're checking your credit report for the first time. Take your time and review your credit report over several days if you need to.
There is still one way to legitimately get your credit fixed fast, usually within 7 days and many times within 3 days. This fast method of credit repair is called “Rapid Rescore” and is ONLY available to mortgage companies. The rapid rescore program was created for the mortgage industry to use when clients had legitimate easily solvable disputes. Examples of some of the easy disputes typically had to do with the timing of updates. For example if a client had recently paid down a balance, received a higher credit limit or resolved a dispute in advance and is in possession of such proof. They can use this proof, submit it to the broker or loan officer who in turn submits it to their “local” credit bureau. The update is manually verified with the creditor, updated, then rescored. The hope and desire is that the client will have a higher credit score due to the changes and qualify for a better rate.
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How it works: A student credit card is the same as a regular credit card but typically has a lower credit limit. The lower limit is due to the smaller income students have compared with adults. Your teen can use their student card just like you’d use your card. However, student cards tend to have higher interest rates than non-student cards — making it all the more important for your teen to pay on time and in full each month.
If you use your credit card at an ATM, it will be treated as a cash advance. Most credit cards charge an upfront cash advance fee, which is typically about 5%. There is usually a much higher “cash advance” interest rate, which is typically above 20%. And there is no grace period, so interest starts to accrue right away. A cash advance is expensive, so beware.
If you don’t address the exact cause of your bad credit, the damage is likely to worsen the longer it goes untreated. For example, if you’ve missed a few credit-card payments, repaying at least the minimum amount needed to change your account’s status from “delinquent” to “paid” on your credit reports will prevent your score from falling further. The same is true of collections accounts, tax liens and other derogatory marks — at least to a certain extent.
On your journey towards fast credit repair, there are a few pieces of caution we must share with you. In this section, we are going to discuss some of the most common mistakes that people make when trying to repair credit fast. Typically, many people are either unaware or too excited and end up making counterproductive decisions. Considering this, if you are serious about repairing your credit fast, take into consideration the following common mistake.
The best way to handle these types of information lines on your credit report is to dispute them but you have to remember that if that isn't done correctly, it is like kicking a hornets nest. Just calling them and saying, "hey, I dispute this." is NOT good enough, regardless of what ANYONE says. It has to be done with a certified, return receipt letter that has been properly worded to prevent the sleezy little buggers from using a loophole. You can find a lot of information out there about how to do this on sites from people like Dave Ramsey or with self help books like Weathering Debt (either one works, but I prefer Weathering Debt, it was much more concise and to the point) but whatever you do, DON'T try to wing it and don't pay someone to do something you can do yourself with ease and for free. Besides, you need to know how to stop the problem from happening again, right?
Each time you apply for credit is listed on your credit report as a “hard inquiry” and if you have too many within two years, your credit score will suffer. In general, a consumer with good credit can apply for credit a few times each year before it begins to affect their credit score. If you’re already starting with below-average credit, however, these inquiries may have more of an impact on your score and delay your ultimate goal of watching your credit score climb.